Why didn't I learn to treat everything like it was the last time. My greatest regret was how much I believed in the future.

As long as I am thinking, I am alive.

The way that I feel about my Jewish identity has been really radically changed by events in life. Like, becoming a writer is one. Having children is another. And getting older and watching, you know, my parents and grandparents get older has been another, the seasons of - being witness to the seasons of life and wanting to have some kind of infrastructure to deal with it, to cope with them. Ritual has become more important to me as I've gotten older. It's not always religious ritual, but it often borrows from Judaism.

It is better to lose than never to have had.

She maintained a careful balance by her window, never allowing the men to come too close, never allowing them to stray too far.

Sometimes people who seem good end up being not as good as you might have hoped, you know?

[S]o if the device of the person in the ambulance detected the device of the person he loved the most, or the person who loved him the most, and the person in the ambulance was really badly hurt, and might even die, the ambulance could flash GOODBYE! I LOVE YOU! GOODBYE! I LOVE YOU!